Abstract
Heat transfer inside a semi porous two-dimensional rectangular open cavity was numerically investigated. The open cavity comprises two vertical walls closed to the bottom by an adiabatic horizontal wall. One vertical wall is a porous and an inflow of fluid occurs normal to it. The other wall transfers a uniform heat flux to the cavity. It shows how natural convection effects may enhance the forced convection inside the open cavity. The main motivation for the work is its application for electronic equipment where frequently the devices used for the electronic equipment cooling are based on natural and forced convection. Governing equations are expressed in Cartesian coordinates and numerically handled by a finite volume method. Results are presented for both local and average Nusselt numbers at the heated wall and for the isotherms and streamlines of the fluid flowing inside the open cavity as a function of Reynolds number ranging from 1 to 100, Grashof number ranging from 0 to 10+7 and the aspect ratio number of the open cavity equal 2, 4 and 8. The results obtained show that the forced convection inside the semi-porous open cavity studied may be greatly enhanced by natural convection effects.
Key words: Computational simulation, electronic equipment cooling, finite volume, natural convection, open cavity; porous media.
